Bugging Out In Northern Ontario, Part 1: Hamilton To Parry Sound

There is something about northern Ontario that I can't get enough of. I was born and raised in densely-populated southwestern Ontario where most of our natural areas have been turned into subdivisions, aggregate pits and soybean fields. However, I have always had a longing for wilderness areas, where people are few and far between and where forests, wetlands and wildlife dominate. Fortunately, I can reach places like this with just a "short" eight-hour drive to the north. Yes, most of the vast swaths of trees in central and northern Ontario are semi-regularly logged, and towns and cities still dot the landscape. But by turning off the highway and driving down a logging road one can get away from the sound of traffic, people and the busyness of the world. Not quite wilderness, but good enough for me. 

Black Spruce skyline - Fraserdale, Cochrane District

During most of the previous 13 years of my life, my job as an ecologist has brought me to various sites in northern Ontario. I've surveyed islands in the Albany River along the James Bay coast, beautiful prairies and aspen stands in Rainy River District, and endless forests throughout Thunder Bay and Cochrane Districts. I've counted Whip-poor-wills and Blanding's Turtles outside of Sudbury, surveyed for Red Knots along the James Bay coast, and found subarctic plants and butterflies 250 kilometres north of Pickle Lake, which is the furthest north that one can drive on an all-season road in Ontario. In hindsight these have been some of my fondest moments as an ecologist, especially since the din of the mosquitoes and the bites of the blackflies fade in my memory, leaving only the positive recollections. 

Arctic Fritillaries (Boloria chariclea) on Hairy Goldenrod (Solidago hispida) - Fraserdale, Cochrane District

In 2025, my work sites were all limited to southern Ontario. I still had an excellent field season but I was missing the north. I hoped that once the field work slowed, an opportunity for a solo car-camping trip to northern Ontario would materialize. There were a couple of butterfly species I needed, plus I was getting into odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) and their diversity is very high along the rivers and spruce bogs of northern Ontario. I itched to do some mothing in a part of the province that I had only surveyed a scant few times before. But mostly, I looked forward to the peace and solitude, with nothing but the open road ahead and countless habitats to explore. 

Dragonhunter (Hagenius brevistylus) - Floodwood River, Cochrane District

I had July 29th in my calendar as the departure date. This would be towards the tail end of the best window for dragonfly hunting, as the first half of July would likely be more productive, but it was the best I could manage with my work schedule. The weather forecast was looking iffy, with some cooler days and overnight lows in the high single digits for part of the trip. But there was little rain in the forecast so I was sure that I would have a chance at most of my insect targets. And so it was, that on the morning of July 29th I packed up my car and began driving north. 

Black Spruce wetlands - Fraserdale, Cochrane District

I planned eight full days for this trip which would give me plenty of time to roam around, take my time and check out some new areas for me. And my first planned stop wasn’t even that far from home – it was Puslinch Tract Conservation Area, just northeast of Cambridge. I hoped to find my first Double-striped Bluets or Slender Bluets here with chances for one or two other lifer odonates. The sun baked down on the landscape as I pulled up. 

Puslinch Tract Conservation Area, Wellington County

Wild Indigo Duskywing (Erynnis baptisiae) - Puslinch Tract CA, Wellington County

Quickly, I tallied the first few butterflies and odonates of the trip; mostly common species like Wild Indigo Duskywing, Widow Skimmer and Eastern Pondhawk. A Prince Baskettail skimmed over the open pond and Variable Dancers were quite active with many paired up.

Variable Dancers (Argia fumipennis) - Puslinch Tract CA, Wellington County

​I encountered my first Double-striped Bluets after just a few minutes of searching. First, I found a few lone females in pond-side vegetation, and soon I was watching several couples flying about. 

Double-striped Bluet (Enallagma basidens) - Puslinch Tract CA, Wellington County

The bluets (genus Enallagma) are a notoriously difficult genus of damselfly to identify. However, this is one of the easiest species to tell apart, as both males and females show an extra pale stripe which divides the black stripe on the sides of the thorax.  

Double-striped Bluets (Enallagma basidens) - Puslinch Tract CA, Wellington County

I was on the board with another new odonate a few minutes later as I rustled up a couple of Swamp Spreadwings. This is one that I have seen before in Nova Scotia, but it was new for my Ontario list. 

Swamp Spreadwing (Lestes vigilax) - Puslinch Tract CA, Wellington County

My final target, the Slender Bluet, was a no-show. Perhaps I was a week or so too late. Finding dragonflies and damselflies is all about timing. With many species, the majority of a population will emerge around the same time with numbers dwindling in subsequent days or weeks. If you time it just right you may see hundreds, though if you are late, finding even one can be a challenge. 

Widow Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa) - Puslinch Tract CA, Wellington County

Prior to embarking on this trip, I created an iNaturalist project to collect all of the observations I submitted over the course of my eight days. As such, I was interested in photographing more than just butterflies or odonates, and I took effort to identify as many organisms as possible, whether they leaped, flew, slithered, or grew. Here are a few other odds and ends from Puslinch Tract Conservation Area. 

Northern Leopard Frog (Lithobates pipiens) - Puslinch Tract CA, Wellington County

For those interested, here is a link to that iNaturalist project: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/josh-vandermeulen-northern-trip-2025. At the time of this writing I have over 700 species documented for the trip, but I still have quite a few photos to edit and upload. I have to say, iNaturalist is the perfect "drug" for those of us afflicted with the addiction of needing to document biodiversity.

Aspen Serpentine Leafminer Moth (Phyllocnistis populiella) - Puslinch Tract CA, Wellington County

Midland Painted Turtle (Chrysemys pitta marginata) - Puslinch Tract CA, Wellington County

Thistle Stem Gall Fly (Urophora cardui) - Puslinch Tract CA, Wellington County

Green-striped Grasshopper (Chortophaga viridifasciata) - Puslinch Tract CA, Wellington County

I tallied fifteen species of odonates and nine butterflies in my two hours at Puslinch Tract Conservation Area. And I hit the road, trying to squeeze through the Greater Toronto Area before the traffic got really bad, a difficult proposition these days. I made it through relatively unscathed and soon I was motoring up Highway 400 towards Barrie and beyond. 

I planned to visit my friend Jon Pleizier at his cottage just outside of Parry Sound for a few hours. Jon is an avid dragonfly watcher and he promised a couple of potential lifers for me in his yard. Both species are active around sunset, so I killed a few hours by having a drink with Jon and a friend of his who was visiting, and then I went for a wander down his road to see what I could turn up. 

Sumac Gall Aphid (Melaphis rhois) on Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina) - Horseshoe Lake, Parry Sound District

I was not expecting a new species of moth, but there on an Ox-eye Daisy was an Inverness Twitcher. Moths in this family (Choreutidae) are often found nectaring on flowers during the day. My apologies for the bad photo, it is a heavy crop of an iPhone picture.

Inverness Twitcher (Choreutis diana) - Horseshoe Lake, Parry Sound District

As the sun slunk lower in the sky, Jon and I hopped in his boat and he took me for a quick tour of the shoreline. It took no time at all to find our first target, the Vesper Bluet. 

Vesper Bluet (Enallagma vesperum) - Horseshoe Lake, Parry Sound District

These damselflies are not necessarily rare, but they are unusual in that they prefer to be active around dusk and so they are not as frequently detected by naturalists, as most of us are out looking during the middle parts of the day. Jon and I saw quite a few Vesper Bluets resting on emergent vegetation around the shoreline of Horseshoe Lake. 

Vesper Bluet (Enallagma vesperum) - Horseshore Lake, Parry Sound District

Soon, the sun was setting and it was time for my other target odonate. 

Jon predicted that an Ocellated Darner would begin patrolling the shoreline as soon as the sun dipped below the horizon and that was exactly what happened. I missed with my first swing of the net, but it was back a couple of minutes later and I connected. There is nothing like hearing a dragonfly's wings rustling in the net; the sound of victory! 

Ocellated Darner (Boyeria grafiana) - Horseshoe Lake, Parry Sound

After releasing the Ocellated Darner I bid farewell to Jon and his family and continued on my way. He had suggested a potential area where I could set up my moth lights without being bothered by anyone and so I raced off to Horseshoe Lake Conservation Reserve. The nightly low was 19 degrees Celsius - by far the warmest evening forecasted for the upcoming week - and so I was eager for a good showing of moths.  

Red-washed Prominent (Oedemasia semirufescens) - Horseshoe Lake Conservation Reserve, Parry Sound District

Typically, peak mothing season is from mid June to mid July and it was clear that we were past the peak this evening. Though diversity was still pretty good, I only tallied around 60 moth species, while I would have expected double that earlier in July. Still, there were a lot to pick through! 

Argyresthia caliphates - Horseshoe Lake Conservation Reserve, Parry Sound

Just one of the moths was a new one for me, and it was a flashy one. This is the Linden Bark Borer Moth which is a species introduced from the Old World. 

Linden Bark Borer Moth (Chrysoclista linneella) - Horseshoe Lake Conservation Reserve, Parry Sound District

This was an interesting little midge that I didn't think much of at the time. However, since uploading the photo to iNaturalist, an expert has identified it as Dziedzickia sp, which is the first observation of this genus on iNaturalist. 

Dziedzickia sp. - Horseshoe Lake Conservation Reserve, Parry Sound District

I stopped to photograph this mushroom at one point during the evening. This is a type of Amanita, though it is difficult to identify to species from just a photo. But it is possible that this is one of the deadly species, often referred to as a Destroying Angel. Definitely not one to fry up with my eggs in the morning!

Amanita sp. - Horseshoe Lake Conservation Area, Parry Sound District

And here are a few other photos from the course of the evening. Day 1 of my northern trip was complete, but I still had a full week remaining. I was excited for the possibilities that awaited. 

Empoa venusta - Horseshoe Lake Conservation Reserve, Parry Sound District

Hemerobius humulinus - Horseshoe Lake Conservation Reserve, Parry Sound District

Maple Dagger (Acronicta retardata) caterpillar - Horseshoe Lake Conservation Reserve, Parry Sound District

Tylozygus bifidus - Horseshoe Lake Conservation Reserve, Parry Sound District